Optimism governance has approved a proposal that more closely ties the OP token to the economic performance of the Superchain, marking a notable shift in how one of Ethereum’s largest Layer 2 ecosystems approaches token value and revenue usage.
The proposal was adopted with 84.4% of votes in favor, according to Optimism’s on-chain governance portal, after several days of discussion between delegates and token holders.
The OP token remained slightly lower over the past 24 hours.
As part of the plan, the Optimism Foundation will allocate 50% of the Superchain Sequencer’s net revenue to recurring OP token buybacks over a 12-month pilot period beginning in February. Remaining revenue will continue to support ecosystem funding, grants, and operations.
The measure represents Optimism’s first formal effort to connect demand for OP tokens to network activity across the Superchain – a growing collection of OP Stack-based chains that includes OP Mainnet, Base, Unichain, World Chain, Soneium, Ink and others.
Since its launch, OP has primarily functioned as a governance token, giving holders influence over protocol upgrades and treasury spending. The newly approved buyback mechanism introduces a different dynamic: as Superchain usage increases, so does the capital allocated to purchasing OPs on the open market.
According to the Optimism Foundation, Superchain sequencers generated approximately 5,900 ETH in revenue over the past year, a figure that could increase as more chains come online and transaction volume increases.
OP tokens acquired under the buyback program will be held in the Optimism Collective treasury. The proposal does not require burning the tokens or removing them from circulation, leaving their future use – including potential staking mechanics, incentives or burning – to subsequent governance decisions.
This flexibility was a key point of discussion during the proposal’s review period, with some delegates arguing that it preserves optionality while others pushed for clearer long-term commitments.
“Governance approval of the buyout proposal marks an exciting first step in expanding the role of the OP token. Optimism’s OP stack is becoming the settlement layer for the next generation of financial systems, and this program will help align the value of the OP token with the success of the Superchain ecosystem,” said Bobby Dresser, Executive Director of the Optimism Foundation..
Read more: Optimism community begins voting on OP token buybacks
